Bowl better to be Number One: Dhoni

He may have been a relieved man after India beat Bangladesh by six wickets in the cricket tri-series but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was miffed with the performance of his frontline bowlers.

Dhoni expressed his disappointment with his bowlers who they allowed the home side to pile up 296 for six from their allotted 50 overs.

"It was quite disappointing that all the bowlers did not perform well today. Not a single frontline bowler was upto the mark. Only Yuvraj Singh (1/33 from 10 overs) bowled well. We cannot take Ravindra Jadeja as a frontline bowler but he bowled well," Dhoni said at the post-match conference.

Zaheer Khan bled 43 from his six overs without any wicket while Ashish Nehra conceded 44 runs from his six overs with just one victim against his name. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh too was off-colour as he finished with figures of one for 56 from his nine overs while Jadeja took one wicket for 45 runs.

Dhoni said that if his team wanted to be Number One in ODIs, the bowling had to improve. "If we want to be in the number one spot, if we want to be consistent then we need to improve our performance in all departments, especially bowling. I want the bowlers to deliver when needed."

"We need to improve our performance by 50 per cent. I know that would be tough for the boys but thats what is international cricket all about," Dhoni said.

Dhoni also expressed surprise at Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan's decision to bat first after winning the toss, despite the dew factor coming into play later in the evening.

"I was surprised that he opted to bat. In the first two matches whoever had won the toss had opted to bowl first because everybody knows dew will play a major role in the result," he said.

The Indian captain said his side was under pressure after Bangladesh reduced them to 51 for three inside nine overs.

"Bangladesh scored nearly 300 and they got early breakthroughs as we were down 51 for three. We were under pressure. Virat and I were a bit nervous. But Virat played a superb innings and Suresh (Raina) supported us," Dhoni said.

"I was never really worried as we had the second powerplay in hand. We were never really short of runs. We were always in reach of the target. So I and Virat decided to build up a partnership to lay the foundation and the plan worked," Dhoni said.

The tournament organizers, meanwhile, said the skippers of all the three teams have accepted to the proposal of advancing the starting time of all the four remaining matches from tomorrow but Dhoni said an early start of 30 minutes will hardly make any difference.

"We had wanted starting the match by 11.30 am (local time) or 12 pm. Advancing by just 30 minutes will not make much difference," said Dhoni.

Praising Kohli for his 91-run knock, Dhoni said, "He has grabbed whatever opportunity has came his way. It is difficult to make way in the Indian middle order be it in Tests or ODIs. He is putting pressure on the established middle order players. That is good sign for Indian cricket."

Asked about his performance and his role as a floater in the batting order, Dhoni said, "I am happy that I scored a hundred under pressure and it came in a winning cause. Batting as a floater has benefits. For example, you come to know of the pressure of batting at different positions. A batsman batting at number three does not know the pressure of batting at number six or seven or vice versa. So it helps you adjust to different roles."

Dhoni did not agree with the remark by his Bangladesh counterpart Shakib al Hasan that the Indian team was more about individual performers whereas Sri Lanka relied on team effort.

"That was a wrong tag given to us. It is not like that. Of course, individuals have to contribute for the team. It is not that only a few individuals contribute for a win. I contribute for the team and then Virat and Raina chipped in," Dhoni explained.